As travelers, we live in a world where nothing can be said to be certain except for death, taxes, and airport delays. And indeed, with upwards of 509,000 flight delays recorded globally each MONTH, and 29,000 + cancellations, even those who travel infrequently are likely to run into some form of delay.

So how do you kill the time at the airport? If you’re in good company, it won’t be hard to pass the time with a couple of the following games.

Games You Can Enjoy While Waiting at the Airport

I Spy

You can play with two or more people; to begin, one person chooses something within eyesight (it must be something that all the other players can see), and says “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with P”

The other players then have to guess what they’re thinking of, and the first person to guess correctly takes the next turn. Can you spot what I’m thinking of in the below photo?

20 Questions

This is an endless game and can be enjoyed with any number of players; a classic game where one player thinks of a particular place or thing, and the other players get to ask up to 20 questions before they have to guess what it is.

This is one of the easiest and most interesting travel games that can be played while waiting at the airport, and the difficulty of the game is only limited by your imagination.

For instance, you could start out by thinking of easy to guess people, like Barack Obama, Meghan Markle, or The Queen. But as you become more experienced with the game you might want to kick the difficulty up a notch, and think of more obscure places, like Madagascar, or a describe visiting a doctor or dental office, or think about other places you go to in normal everyday life like your local grocery store or your kids school!

These places are really going to stump people because most times you’re thinking of travel and not everyday things like visiting a dentist.

Hangman

This game can be trickier than writing an essay! One player thinks of a word or phrase; the others try to guess what it is one letter at a time.

“The player draws a number of dashes equivalent to the number of letters in the word. If a guessing player suggests a letter that occurs in the word, the other player fills in the blanks with that letter in the right places.

If the word does not contain the suggested letter, the other player draws one element of a hangman’s gallows. As the game progresses, a segment of the gallows and of a victim is added for every suggested letter not in the word.

The number of incorrect guesses before the game ends is up to the players, but completing a character in a noose provides a minimum of six wrong answers until the game ends. The first player to guess the correct answer thinks of the word for the next game.” – Zachary Collinger.

This is a classic game that can be played across ages without any restriction. The level of difficulty can be altered to suit the age of the person guessing.

Of course, the most classic way to play is with paper and pen, but if you’re traveling solo why not carry a gaming laptop – there are many online and computer versions of the game where you vs artificial intelligence, or other online players.

Remember What You See

Pitting one’s observation skills can be one of the best ways to pas your time at the airport. It tests the memory of the participants and makes them aware of the things around them.

For this game, choose a direction mutually and look in that direction for thirty seconds. After thirty seconds, look in the other direction and make a list of things one had seen in the chosen direction.

The person with the longest list will win the game. This is a great game to play with kids accompanying you at the airport. The best part is that more than two players can play this game at a time.

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Megan is an Australian Journalist and award-winning travel writer who has been blogging since 2007. Her husband Mike is the American naturalist and wildlife photographer behind Waking Up Wild; an online magazine dedicated to opening your eyes to the wonders of the wild & natural world.

Having visited 50+ countries across all seven continents, Megan’s travels focus on cultural immersion, authentic discovery and incredible journeys. She has a strong passion for ecotourism, and aims to promote responsible travel experiences.

34 Comments

Billy Kao
April 27, 2018

I load my smartphone with games before I go, and make sure the kids have adequate entertainment on their ipads. Important to remember though to make sure you can play offline, as you’ll get to some airports and not have access to wifi.

Clever way to go Billy – and great tip about making sure everything works offline. I would assume that playing games to pass the time would use up the battery quite quickly, but I’ve found portable chargers are great to travel with for some extra juice if you can’t get to a power outlet :)

Ryan Biddulph
April 27, 2018

I do play “remember what you see” sometimes for necessity Meg ;) Helpful practice for mindfulness too. Sometimes we need recall where we are, to get around. Noted on all these games buddy. We seem to have super long layovers from time to time, although my next long haul flight offers a super quick one, in Hawaii of all place. Where I’d not mind a long one :) Thanks for sharing.

Definitely a helpful game for mindfulness Ryan – I like trying to keep my memory sharp too, so often play this with myself, but you’re so right, it’s very beneficial to make special note of landmarks or points of interest to help navigate a new place – or even an airport – half the time just finding your way back to the gate from the bathroom can be a journey lol!

Next layover too short to duck out from the airport and visit the beach? D

Susannah
April 28, 2018

We have a thing where we play a scavenger hunt at the airport. It’s actually a lot of fun (and surprisingly good exercise, especially if it’s a large airport and you’re running around trying to get back before the other person / people!)

Make up a list of random ideas, like Meghan Markle on the front cover of a magazine, or nail clippers, and then set off in opposite directions to see who can find as many of these items as possible. We’re broke lol so we don’t actually buy them, but you can use your camera to snap evidence of your findings.

We usually try to sit near the departure board, because it’s quite fun to go through the destinations and each person says as many facts as they know about each one on the board. Stuff like the currency, language, capitol city. Whoever gets the most points wins a drink from the airport bar.

I read about this one game on someone elses blog called Eau de backpacker which we’ve started doing and it’s hilarious – hit up all of the duty free shps and create a new, bespoke perfume from blending the free samples. Though we’ve started doing this on a sample stick because otherwise the smell when you get into the plane is pretty toxic!

I do this too – haven’t managed to start a gate wide game yet though – sounds fun!

Melanie Young
May 10, 2018

My kids love sitting by the concourse to watch the planes – they quite enjoy rating each take off and landing. Even made signs once so they could hold up numbered scorecards at the window for their ratings – bless them!

I set my family up with airport bingo before we go. I usually print out proper cards, but if you have pens and paper (or napkins will do), make some bingo cards that include some commonly seen items at the airport (clothing or luggage carried by your fellow passengers)

Great article Meg. I’m sure my children play a versions of the 20 questions game with me. Dad when we there? Dad whats that person do? Dad why are you wearing those shoes? You get the picture! Going to use some of these handy tips to keep them entertained!